GG 2026 Fus Ro Dah!

[Geroak II]

Earlier this year I realized 11.11. marks 15th anniversary of releasing of Skyrim and this got me thinking if I could find a thematically fitting miniature from my collection and paint it to celebrate this event.

I suppose there might be a member or two who have no idea what Skyrim is, so short description before continuing might be in order: Skyrim is a multi-award winning single player fantasy action-RPG video game with rather atmospheric wintery/autumnal setting and it is also in top ten of best-selling video games of all time with ~65m copies sold.
Not the most interesting game when it comes to game mechanics and depth of them (or lack of...) but, for me, the game compensates that with general mood; world building, exploring the said world, music and just ambience.

Now, why do I want to base my entry around Skyrim then? The game holds a very special place in my heart and with its 15th anniversary just around the corner it definitely starts to feel close to that nostalgia range. Nostalgia obviously being huge part of oldhammer for many of us hobbyists, Skyrim for me goes nicely hand in hand with oldhammer.

Spoiler: Besides, everyone knows that Skyrim just works:

After some digging I did find more than one suitable candidate that fit the vibe I was looking for, but instead of your regular norse or norse-looking fighter I decided to go with this slightly less heroic and more menacing looking chaos thug instead. Better armoured (and clothed!) and, most importantly, not over the top viking/barbarian look spoke to me.
This is a miniature I've wanted to paint for years now but kept putting the idea off as it doesn't really fit with rest of my painted minis, but I guess time has finally come for it to shine less and be more multi-coloured and matte. A-hahah...

For your viewing pleasure, here is a potato camera quality pic of the humble beginnings of my entry:



This is the exact condition I bought (for cheap, I hope, considering it's missing the axe) this thug in early 2010s.
Obviously first thing I need to do is source him a new weapon. I lean towards a new axe, maybe something ornate and sophisticated like a dwarven axe or more primitive one like a beastman's, either way we'll soon see I hope.

 

[Wilbur the Red]

I love that model, got it with some thugs recently, and the axe looks exactly like the beastmen’s double handed ones.

 

[Geroak II]

It does indeed (checked on Lost minis wiki earlier) but I might not have suitable old beastman from which to "borrow" the axe. Might have to resort on 6th edition plastics, though ornamented axe might fit better with my vision... Decisions, decisions.

 

[The Serene Badger]

His metal armour would suggest that he has funds to have an ornate axe

 

[Tex]

Love the mini! If you feel a bit handy with putty, I'd suggest to have a go at sculpting your own axe, maybe using the tamiya one or another hard-setting type, in order to be able to sand it and get well defined edges.
I recently realised that even an untrained hand - like mine - can get very good results

 

[ManicMan]

ugh.. nothing against you, looks like a good excuse for something ^_^ but.. Skyrim... ugh.. never a bit fan of the generic elder scroll stuff (though I think there is meant to be a nice story going from game to game with a character played by the great (or atleast good) Stephen Russell... if you know who the actor Stephen Russell is, you might know why I'm bias) but that one just one of these things that appeared to appeal mostly to people who didn't know how generic and standard such CRPGs like it are.. not saying it's bad, hell, there are tons of generic standard ones which are great.. just.. everyone started going way too mad over some of the games and refusing to know it's just another one in the Elder Scrolls series and stuff.. of course, even I won't go into the mess which is the company behind the series ¬_¬) hell.. I enjoyed Daedalic Entertainment two adventure games set in the Dark Eye world (from before the company went to hell) but they are pretty generic uninspired but fun games. (though why they kinda hide the Dark Eye stuff from the second game is weird.. I might not be the biggest fan or really into the german RPG Dark Eye system, but does any one here NOT know of The Dark Eye world? It's one of the big RPG worlds.

Ah, sorry.. kinda a bit.. just random moany there.. Look forward to see what your customising and painting turns out as ^_^

 

[Kallstrom]

It is always nice to create a piece as a kind of homage to something else one also likes. Especially when creating something physical and analog that was inspired by a digital source - like a computer game that one holds in high regards!

I have done something similar in the past by kitbashing miniatures to look more like something from a certain video game that I have played and enjoyed, to also converting a whole story and setting from a game to be used in a set of table top rules for a roleplaying game.

May your Skyrim project honor your nostalgic memory! Maybe have an arrow sticking out of the miniature's knee to show that his adventuring days are at an end?

 

[Geroak II]

His metal armour would suggest that he has funds to have an ornate axe

I agree. Dwarf axe it is if I can find one that doesn't look ridiculously huge. Then again this miniature has rather beefy hands so maybe my fear is unnecessary.

If you feel a bit handy with putty, I'd suggest to have a go at sculpting your own axe, maybe using the tamiya one or another hard-setting type, in order to be able to sand it and get well defined edges.
I recently realised that even an untrained hand - like mine - can get very good results

I've been trying some more complex green stuffing conversions lately (after years and years of thinking I didn't have it in me - completely ignoring the fact I had never really tried!) and whilst I think with practice I might be able to try for the axe, now is probably still way too soon. But I'll keep on practicing and will bear in mind your tip of trying out other types of sculpting putty than just green stuff.

@ManicMan: No worries, no offence taken - to each their own and so forth. I know people who are not fans of Skyrim and have spoken more harshly about it and I have no problem with them either.

I also don't argue against Skyrim being rather generic but it is nevertheless a game I like and very nostalgic to me. And just like with miniatures, object is not the reason of nostalgia as such but rather a device for it.

@Kallstrom: Hahah, I hope his adventuring days are just about to begin rather than end, so no, no arrows sticking from the knee for this fella.
Maybe I'll paint a sweet roll on his shield instead...

Have you posted pics of those minis you made after a video game somewhere? Would love to see them.

 

[Old Hob]

I don't really know anything about video games, but I do love a chaos thug. The more outrageous the new weapon the better, as far as I'm concerned. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Geroak II]

Turns out I was severely overestimating number of suitably ornate axe bits in my bitz box. I was already about to settle on a plain double-bitted axe from 6th edition dwarf regiment (which didn't look too bad honestly, just very... plain) when I luckily decided to check one more box with miscellaneous minis from various manufacturers and what do you know; I ended up finding an axe that feels like a pretty perfect choice for my purposes here - of all possibilities it was originally being swung by an ogre! Pretty remarkable how well it fits both size and style-wise with what I wanted.

Here's the helpful donor after some cutting (Originally from Hobby Products/ Metal Magic, sculpted by grossly underrated Josef Ochmann):


Besides fixing some pitting and getting that axe ready for battle I only did green stuff some very minor details on this adventurer's belt.
At this point I was ready to call this one good for painting but remembered Kallstrom's comment I decided to add one more little detail:
I've been led to believe 'taking an arrow to the knee' is actually a metaphor for getting married and while wedding ring might not be lore-accurate for Skyrim, I went and gave this fella one anyway as this will hopefully be visually readable of what I was going after.

In all honesty, so far there's nothing that specifically ties this miniature to Skyrim and I'm counting on painting some freehand on the shield to help with that.

And with that I should be ready to start painting once gs has fully cured.
Better pics of mini and close-up of the new axe:



@Old Hob: I did (very) briefly consider going with this axe that I feel like would have been suitably outrageous but in the end I prefer at least a bit more realistic sized weapons on my minis.

 

[Kallstrom]

The axe head you chose looks great! I am looking forward to seeing that miniature all painted up!

I have a bad habit of not snagging a picture of my painted miniatures before I pack them away, but somewhere in my collection I have a painted miniature of Geralt of Rivia and of Ciri from the Witcher series (Witcher 3 is my favorite video game of all time). When it comes to Skyrim I actually have a painted version of the Dragonborn miniature. But those three miniatures I just bought and then painted up so not a lot of my own creative freedom or flair was added (besides putting them on scenic bases), so I feel that I can't take credit for those creations.

I am a bit more proud of the miniatures that I have altered and converted to create a look that is trying to mirror the appearance or feel of a character from a video game or a movie. Here below are some of the examples. Besides those pictures below I have also made some terrain pieces in honor of the game Ghost of Tsushima since I love that video game, but I do not want to hijack your thread so these will be the extent of my pictures, Geroak II. Let me know if you want them removed and I'll sort it out right away!

The characters from the game Shadow Tactics. With a miniature per main character and the main villain, and some items that are iconic for the characters.


And here is a samurai based on the main character from the movie Throne of Blood (to the right in the first picture below). I painted him in black-and-white as an homage to the movie. He got arrows sticking out of his armor that eludes to the end of the movie.

 

[ManicMan]

I was debating if I would call Washizu the main character... but then decided probebly would, as Yoshiteru is only really the Hero, not the main character.

 

[Geroak II]

Witcher 3 is a masterpiece. Played it, and enjoyed tremendously, for the first time not long before the pandemic hit.
Never have I experienced as hooking a mini-game as gwent. Witcher 3 is definitely in my top 5 games of all-time.

When it comes to Skyrim I actually have a painted version of the Dragonborn miniature. But those three miniatures I just bought and then painted up so not a lot of my own creative freedom or flair was added (besides putting them on scenic bases), so I feel that I can't take credit for those creations.

I think these still count just the same as if you had done extensive conversions to achieve something similar. Not everything needs to be 100% unique to be cool, but I agree that finding suitable miniature, altering and painting it to look like something from other IP is very rewarding.
I've been very lazily searching for cowboy / just generic wild west mini to paint as Arthur Morgan of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Never heard of Shadow Tactics but you're saying those minis are not originally modeled out after game characters? If so, excellent work on sourcing out so fitting miniatures. And lovely paint job on them as well!

Regarding your pics: Thanks for sharing them and please do leave them as they are! How I see it, this sort of "sidetracking" and chit-chatting while I'm working on my entry is very welcome in this thread.

 

[The Serene Badger]

I think the axe you chose looks perfect, and too ornate for the ogre. I think the bigger axe head would have looked too heavy to be welded one-handed like he is. Would have been perfect for a two-hander. When it's painted it'll be impossible to tell it was never made that way.